I recently went back to school and had the privilege to join a class with Stanley McChrystal, the general who transformed the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He had a powerful message: veterans should continue to serve by contributing to our communities. We served because that is who we are and continue to be. We should not accept respect without continuing to earn it.

Soldier Stories isn’t about events that happened in the past. Values that veterans put in action in military service can and should be continued in our civilian lives.

Jeremy Lehman in Cite Soleil, a slum in Port au Prince, Haiti.